A Promise I Hope President McCain Keeps

To be honest, since I long ago voiced my reservations regarding Senator John S. McCain for President, I haven’t watched his campaign coverage very closely so I’m not at all that familiar with his standard stump material. With that said, he included something the other night that may well have been “standard McCain stuff” but it was new to me and it stuck with me. (I haven’t noticed in any of the post-convention analysis where anyone has mentioned it but I haven’t been looking that hard either. I apologize if this has already been fully discussed elsewhere.) It turns out that it was somewhat of a deviation from the prepared remarks so I had to dig a little but it came in the middle of this prepared paragraph:

I’ve fought corruption, and it didn’t matter if the culprits were Democrats or Republicans. They violated their public trust, and had to be held accountable. I’ve fought big spenders in both parties, who waste your money on things you neither need nor want, while you struggle to buy groceries, fill your gas tank and make your mortgage payment. I’ve fought to get million dollar checks out of our elections. I’ve fought lobbyists who stole from Indian tribes. I fought crooked deals in the Pentagon. I fought tobacco companies and trial lawyers, drug companies and union bosses.

It was after the “things you neither need nor want” phrase where he went a bit off script and inserted the following (as transcribed by me):

…and the first big spending, pork barrel earmark bill that comes across my desk I will veto it. I will make them famous and YOU WILL KNOW THEIR NAMES. YOU WILL KNOW THEIR NAMES. We’re not going to allow that…

More…That would be outstanding. I hope he really means that…and I hope the Congressional Leadership really, really does not believe him. I look forward to piles of used veto pens and large servings of very public shame thrown back at Capitol Hill. I can’t wait to see how he goes about “making them famous” and how they squirm under the spotlight.

Beyond just the entertainment value of the whole spectacle, a very early public battle with an already laughably inept Democrat controlled Congress will be very important during his first term to build valuable political capital and further drive down Congressional approval ratings. A very public victory that uses the establishment media to the extend possible but that generally goes around them or just plain over them like a freight train will be valuable in establishing a more direct communication link with the American people. Given his party’s situation and historic trends in congress, a President McCain needs to possess and freely exercise the Mother of all Bully Pulpits.

All of the above will be important when it comes to his first Supreme Court nomination and the mid-term elections…and these items are critical to the future of the conservative movement and the good ‘ol US of A.

I might be a bit dreamy yet with the adrenaline still pumping from what I thought was a very good convention week but I’d sure like the tone to be set early for a term or two of bipartisanship through strength…Maverick style. This would also go a long way towards solidifying long term support from skeptics like me.